As well as the president's speech and excellent entertainment, the event saw the MTA present the Manufacturing Industry Awards – an opportunity to celebrate success and congratulate some outstanding individuals and companies.
MTA president Simon Pollard used the speech to drive home the message that UK manufacturing is great and growing. He looked forward to a fruitful MACH 2012 and said he believed that UK manufacturing was well placed to thrive and prosper with advances in technology, science and research, and skills, as well as progress on issues such as export finance and the Government's attitude to the sector. He also highlighted the commitment to the sector of Lloyds TSB Commercial not least in its support of the dinner.
Mr Pollard's speech also stressed that it was vitally important for government to invest strategically in the country's manufacturing base: “The challenge is turn the talk into action,” he declared. “Governments of all colours like an eye catching headline. Bright ideas and initiatives – a competition for this, a small grant for that – are all well and good .Every little helps, to borrow a phrase from some of our friends in retail, but this is not sufficient to build the strong manufacturing economy and culture that we have to create.”
He continued: “We have to be prepared to stand up for what we make here in the UK and to believe that some industries are strategically and economically essential – and that doesn't just mean submarines in Barrow – it means trains in Derby too!”
The Manufacturing Industry Awards were presented on the night and hosted by the BBC's Susanna Reid. In the category of Best Training Scheme, the prize was won by the National Physical Laboratory's outstanding training programme in the metrology. The Best Supplier Partnership was won by Delcam and Coventry Engineering and the coveted Most Dynamic Subcontractor award was taken by BTEK Precision for its work on BAPS structures for the European Space Agency's Sentinel 2 satellite.
The Young Engineer of the Year award was won by Adam Kelsey of Joseph Rhodes who was also awarded the AMTRI Scholarship to help him fund the next stage of his career development.
Mr Kelsey said: “I was delighted and honoured to pick up the award on the night and it makes all the hard work worthwhile. The AMTRI Scholarship will really help me to take my knowledge and expertise to the next level.”
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